Condensed Matter > Superconductivity

Abstract: Magnetism is very important in science and technology, from magnetic
recording to energy generation to trapping cold atoms. Physicists have managed
to master magnetism - to create and manipulate magnetic fields- almost at will.
Surprisingly, there is at least one property which until now has been elusive:
how to 'switch off' the magnetic interaction of a magnetic material with
existing magnetic fields without modifying them. Here we introduce the
antimagnet, a design to conceal the magnetic response of a given volume from
its exterior, without altering the external magnetic fields, somehow analogous
to the recent theoretical proposals for cloaking electromagnetic waves with
metamaterials. However, different from these devices requiring extreme material
properties, our device is feasible and needs only two kinds of available
materials: superconductors and isotropic magnetic materials. Antimagnets may
have applications in magnetic-based medical techniques such as MRI or in
reducing the magnetic signature of vessels or planes.